The young man with pitch-black hair and eyes quickened his pace as the clouds began to gather in the sky. Up to that point, the sky had been postcard-perfect, but it was changing. The beautiful cocktail-blue shade was beginning to darken into gravel-grey. Large pillows of cloud were forming, blotting out the old-gold color of the sun. He got the first splatter of rain when he was halfway across the meadow. He took shelter under an old oak, hoping that he could wait out the shower. Droplets of moisture began to drip from the leaves, sprinkling onto the grass like a gardener's hose. Then the rainfall became more intense. A wall of rain moved over the oak, and the drops drummed against the canopy. The downpour was so heavy that the sound blurred into one long, whirring noise, reminding him of the rotor blades on a helicopter. The young man in question was Ren. This is very unusual, but the man has a promise to fulfill. Currently, he is living with a girl named Mahiru. A girlfriend? Nope
“Players registration for the Sword art festival!” “Players at all levels are preparing for this tournament.” “This game event is the one that will decide whose the strongest of all players after all.” The crowd was excited and players all around were busy training, grinding, and setting up their skills in preparation for the event that would decide whose the strongest. “Thank you, background extras. You all helped me remember what one of my dreams is. This transcends the lines of race or nationality. The sponsors, the fighters, the spectators… They all want one thing, and one thing only: Absolute power! Here in this tournament, where all are unified in the quest to find the strongest among us, I know what I must do! And that is: To conceal my eminent talent, enter the tournament, and make all the spectators first think “Oh, no, no, that guy is dead for sure” Then make them gradually realize “Wait, this one’s pretty strong” Until finally, “Who the heck is that guy?!” They will scre
Next day. After school, I go straight login to my former account. I could not remember my last login spot, but as I open my eyes. I saw myself in our previous guild house. It’s a small cabin near a small village. I could feel the nostalgia of every item placed in the guild. And then, In front of me are players whose about to tear up. “K-Kaede!” Yuki jumps on me and gives me a hug. After she was Ronie, Saya, and Clover. Amber and her friends were also here hanging out looking pleased with the heartwarming scene they witnessed. Months have passed since I abandoned this guild after all. Or should I see when I try to abandon this whole circle of friends? I don’t really care at all. But I have things that I must do. “Give me space to breathe… I’m not going anywhere anymore.” “Master I just miss you so much. We thought you were never gonna play again because you already stepped to adulthood.” “Me? Step to adulthood?” “You have a boyfriend after all. Boyfriends are demanding right?”
After the celebration, everybody logged off and return back to the real world. I also logged off, just to get away from them. That’s because I have other plans. An hour has passed in the real world and I re-logged in. This time there is no one around the guild anymore. The time is 1:45 AM. I’m sacrificing my beauty sleep for this. I better do what I have to do fast. I open my inventory and search for items that I could use in my newly acquired account. As a veteran player, it is not just stats and skills that made a character powerful. Equipements and the skills embedded in them also play a huge part. For example, my black piercing sword, this sword have black dragon skills embedded inside of it. By using a magical counter, I could use each of the black dragon skills such as a paralyzing roar. The awesome part of equipment skill was that most of them don’t actually use mana. There are a few pieces of equipment that use mana like Ren’s flaming sword. But those are very rare. Passive sk
The sun was too shy to come out, the cloud remained dark with a hint of upcoming rain. There is no need to worry about the rain because he--Ren already arrived at his destination, Central Tokyo Hospital. We immediately proceed to the room located on the seventh floor of the main building. With flowers on hand and a basket of fruits. He takes a second look at himself in a glass reflection making sure that he looks good. Ren gulp his saliva and pushed the door in front of him with all courage and anticipation. Inside the room was a girl with various tubes connected to her. An oxygen mask covers half of her beautiful face. The noise of *Beeps* coming from the Holter monitor. Ren was filled with anticipation every time he came inside thinking that might be… Maybe, a miracle happened. A miracle that would wake up his most beloved from her long long dream. He smiled and greet me. “It's been a while, Kanna.” He placed the basket on the table and change the whithering flowers on the vase.
The stadium was surrounded by players. Hundreds of players were about to register, but for the registration was complete. There are things that players must accomplish. Registration wasn’t just filling up the form. A mini-tournament was also held to further shave down the huge number of players participating in the Sword Arts tournament. There are so many of them. We all know that this extra will surely eat mud in a few minutes. That’s because I was here… Stepping out from the shade, a man with average looks, average height, pitch-black hair, and eyes. Little shade of eyes bag underneath the eyes. And the demeanor of a weakling. Yup, all of that only describe a certain character that everyone will recognize in any isekai anime or light novel… His name is Blackraven. I made my back hunch a bit to replicate how most of the NEET walk. I must remain unconfident and weak looking. Seeing myself in the mirror was superb. This is the perfect look. I’m so terrified of my acting skill. Movi
I had never seen him acting like this before. Ren is acting very annoyed. He's not the type that would smile frequently, but his now feeling tense. “I don’t think your ridiculous Ren,” I say to put him at ease. “That’s not it.” “Then, what's your problem?” He continues averting his eyes away and sipping his cola. What a weird guy! We already fought a life and death battle and you are still being shy with me? Oh, please, Ren. You can share anything with me embarrassing or confidential. I’ll accept everything of you. “Who is this your girlfriend?” So I look like a girlfriend. “Not at all.” He spoiled the fun! He keeps is cool like it is never an issue. He's not wrong about that. Riding a joke sometimes was part of having fun. “... She’s more like a close friend.” Ren replied casually and so cold. “I see, then is it fine to discuss matters with her.” “I don’t see the problem with that. I’m not publishing anything after all… Well, about my novels. I think I won’t be able to w
(New world Kaede perspective)I’m currently deep in the forest. A short sword in my hand and light armor equipped. Why I’m here? The answer is simple. It's for revenge. This time I’ll defeat the same bear monster that put me in a disabled state not a long time ago.I used roasted fish as bait.Meanwhile, I’m hiding inside a bush waiting for its arrival. I baited some other types of monsters like wolves and bugs. I don’t have any complaints about it, I still can get my experience killing these monsters.I checked my status and notice that I had already leveled up from level 5 to level 6. My MP increased to 120 same as my HP. Seems like leveling in this world are difficult. I already killed lots of monsters, fifty monsters to be exact before I level up to level 6. Killing a lower-level monster indeed gives little experience.To increase my level, I need to find a monster that has a higher level than me.“There it is!”The bear monster appeared. It took the bait as I anticipated. From th